Traffic delays possible for water line work

Water line upgrades will improve water flow

Covington residents could see traffic delays south of the square and in the Old Monticello Street area during the next year as work begins on replacing more than 26,000 linear feet of city water lines, some of which are more than 100 years old.

Water lines are currently being replaced on McCullough Drive and Misty Lane off Monticello Street in Covington, and crews will move to other streets in the coming weeks and months.

No full road closures are expected, but some roads may be partially blocked, said Tim Smith, office manager for the city’s public works department.

While there might be some delays, Smith said the water lines will be upgraded with larger lines that will improve water flow for both residents and fire protection. The new lines will also reduce the number of water main breaks in the area, Smith said.

The next streets to be affected will be Wood and Louise streets, off Old Monticello Street, but the schedule after that has not been determined, Smith said.

Other streets that will be worked on in the future include:

Church Street

Monticello Street, from Square to Old Monticello Street

Pennington Street

Ponderosa Drive

Rebecca Street

Locust Circle

Ellen Court

Old Monticello Street

David Circle

Green Street

Cherry Valley Drive

Elliot Street

Indian Creek Circle

Legion Drive, from Old Monticello Street to King Street

The cost of the water line replacements is $2.56 million. Fortis Engineering, of Chamblee, was the low bidder in March.

The money will come from a $4.5 million federal, low-interest Drinking Water State Revolving Fund loan, which is given out by the Georgia Environmental Finance Authority (GEFA). The city will pay 0.5 percent interest on the 20-year loan, according to GEFA’s website.

The current work is the first phase of a four-phase project, which will eventually replace “66,000 linear feet of deteriorating 2-inch, 4-inch and 6-inch galvanized and asbestos cement mains with new 8-inch ductile iron pipe” and replace some fire hydrants and valves, according to GEFA.

All four phases are expected to be complete by 2017, City Engineer Tres Thomas said previously.In late 2012, Covington grant writer Randy Conner said the city could be losing millions of gallons of water through small leaks in its water system.

Conner said at the time that the city had installed transite water lines containing asbestos cement, which were frequently used in the 1900s until the latter part of the century because those lines were stronger and lasted longer.